This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, click the "Reprints" link at the bottom of any article.

September 25, 2013

Advent Launches New Platforms, Logo at Confab

More On Legal & Compliance

from The Advisor's Professional Library

Using Solicitors to Attract Clients
Rule 206(4)-3 under the Investment Advisors Act establishes requirements governing cash payments to solicitors. The rule permits payment of cash referral fees to individuals and companies recommending clients to an RIA, but requires four conditions are first satisfied.

Books and Records Rule
Thorough and complete books and records enable RIAs to demonstrate that they have fulfilled their fiduciary obligations to clients and complied with applicable rules and regulations.

Advent Software (ADVS) just wrapped up its yearly conference, which drew more than 1,300 guests. At the Sept. 18-20 event, the company shared a new logo, cloud-based platform and upgrades to its portfolio management platform.

In other tech-centric news, SunGard Financial Systems said Wednesday that it is rolling out a new financial planning tool.

Advent's staff were ecstatic about the high attendance at its recent 30th anniversary event, noting that several tech and financial services VIPs were there, including from CEB TowerGroup, Focus 1 Associates and Ashland Partners.

"I am thrilled to welcome so many valuable clients and partners to the most important AdventConnect we've held to date," said CEO Pete Hess, in a press release last Wednesday. “This is a critical time for the industry we serve with major regulatory, macroeconomic, and technology shifts continually evolving the way investment managers do business.”

The software maker says that Advent Direct, its new cloud-based platform for investment managers should allow them to boost efficiency by bringing together “disparate solutions and workflows” in operations, from front to back office.

"With the launch of Advent Direct, we are helping our clients succeed by leveraging the benefits of cutting-edge technology and combining them with the quality and reliability they expect from Advent,” said CTO Todd Gottula, in a statement. “We believe Advent Direct will be a game changer for the industry and for our clients' business success."

With Advent Direct, clients should be able to use social technology to reach helpful content and contacts, according to the software maker.

"The new Advent Direct Community empowers the community of Advent clients, partners and employees to unleash the sharing of ideas, opinions and insights," said Anthony Sperling, executive vice president, global client experience for Advent Software, in a press release.

At its confab, Advent also unveiled both a new logo and redesigned website.

"Our new identity is a visual commitment to remain our clients' steady partner to help them thrive in the dynamic and evolving landscape, which, after 30 years, we are uniquely positioned to help them navigate,” Hess said.

More Tools

As for updates to its Black Diamond portfolio management, reporting and rebalancing platform, the software maker says it added new data mining capabilities and more ways to integrate information for RIA custodians and other clients using CRM systems (like Salesforce, trading platforms and analytic tools.

“We’ve more than doubled the Black Diamond development team since joining forces with Advent two years ago and with that fuel added to our engine we have been able to innovate on many fronts simultaneously, including both internal capabilities and external integrations,” noted Dave Welling, senior vice president and general manager of Black Diamond, an independent business group of Advent Software, in a statement.

Advent also beefed up the multi-custodial rebalancing tool, so it includes tax awareness capabilities, like cost-basis integration, the handling of allocations to separately managed accounts and the rebalancing of those investments alongside other securities in one location.

“Adoption of the Black Diamond rebalancing solution since [its] general availability last year has been tremendous, with more than a quarter of our client base now having access to the workflow to automate what has traditionally been a complicated manual, time-consuming and error-prone process,” Welling noted. “The recent enhancements are based on the fantastic level of engagement and input from the clients we have using the platform, and we will continue to enhance the platform based on their feedback.”

Black Diamond also recently added new integration to BlazePortfolio’s ATOM Align, a cloud-based rebalancing and trade-order management solution, and a data-mining tool to let clients to query, analyze and access their own data in more aggregated ways on the platform.

“With fully reconciled, high quality, aggregated data on the Black Diamond platform, our clients now have even more flexibility to access and query their data right at their fingertips,” said Welling.

Some of Black Diamond’s custodial clients are Fidelity, Pershing, Raymond James (Investment Advisors Division), Schwab Advisor Services, TD Ameritrade Institutional and Trust Co. of America. It is also used by some 460 advisory firms with $180 billion in assets. Advent’s technology has been used by over 4,400 firms in nearly 60 countries, according to the company.

SunGard’s Latest Launch

SunGard Financial Systems said early Wednesday it released WealthStation Plan Track, a tool that lets advisors compare how clients’ financial projections compare to their actual performance over time.

“Investors are seeking more transparency around the performance of their financial plans over time,” saidJennifer Valdez, senior vice president and general manager, wealth & retirement administration business for SunGard in a press release.

“WealthStation Plan Track helps advisors quickly adjust financial plans as needed to track to goals, thereby helping to demonstrate their value to clients and strengthen relationships through more frequent engagement opportunities to discuss the plan’s progress,” she added.

The tool is able to:

Combine data from different financial planning tools and show how account values assigned to financial goals may change in the future;

Work with a range of deviation above or below the projections or actual values; and

Trigger alerts or corrective actions for deviations the advisor determines to be material.

“One of the biggest demands clients have is a desire for a holistic and tailored financial plan,” said Darrin Courtney, research director, CEB TowerGroup, in a statement. “Whether it is a custom plan, an on-demand report or collaborative access to their portfolios, clients will be driving the way they interact with their advisors, the firms that employ them and the technology required to meet their ever-increasing needs.”

In August, SunGard introduced MyRetirement income calculator to give participants in employer-based defined contribution plans the ability to determine sustainable spending amounts throughout their retirement years.